Why Do We Need To Live a Holy Life?

0 (1s): Well, good morning. Merry Christmas, everyone. Welcome to Harvest. Church. My name is Sherrilyn. If we haven't met yet, her so glad that you joined us this morning. Hello to everyone who's watching online and all over campus today. We're all staying warm and safe and cozy this Christmas season. If you're able to be in the room with me, why don't you stand as we began to prepare our hearts for worship this morning. 1 (30s): Awesome. 0 (30s): What's just go before the Lord together in prayer, 1 (36s): Lord, we just welcome you. Holy 0 (41s): The spirit. Would you just come pray that you would touch every heart this morning? Just that we could be overwhelmed by your loving presence today, just as you came into the hat's stable in Bethlehem so many years ago, God, we just sense your presence here in this space with us. I pray that every family watching at home and just sense your presence and your peace just fall upon their whole family or whole household down in Jesus name. 1 (1m 12s): Need you want you and we welcome you. 1 (1m 24s): CA 0 (13m 11s): Here from him this morning, some fresh manna 1 (13m 14s): maybe there's some of you. 0 (13m 26s): I have a word of encouragement for all of us to be a great time to, to share that 1 (13m 29s): Jesus . 0 (18m 42s): As a reminder this morning, just how the Wiseman came very gifts to lay before the King has even thinking of a story of a little drummer boy and have a heat, brought his gift of music to the King. And even those who don't have anything to bring your heart. That's really what he's after is after our hearts this morning. So even if you feel like your checkbook is slim, and maybe you're like I had a stump, know that I have much to offer. God says, I just want your heart. Plus spring on our hearts this morning together, we're gonna sing this together. Our affection art emotion. 0 (19m 24s): We're gonna pour it out on the feet of Jesus. 1 (19m 31s): . 1 (21m 21s): We worship you with all of our hearts this morning. Just pray your presence. Just be so felt in the season. Remind us again and again that you are Emmanuel God with us. There's nowhere that we can go from your presence. God can be in the deepest of pits and your presence is still going to find us there. Thank you that nothing can separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. You make room in our hearts for you. This season make room in our hearts this day, we open our hearts wide to receive all that you have for us and the precious and beautiful name of Jesus. 1 (22m 7s): Amen. Amen. So a good church to be together this Christmas and to celebrate those of you who are in the room here with us or on campus and how some neighbors around you. Let's take this time to greet someone with the love for Jesus this morning. And we'll be back in just a few minutes with some more announcements. 2 (22m 29s): Welcome to those who are in the sanctuary, in the loft, in the parsonage and on the patio. It is good to have you welcome. So I've been gone for the last couple of weeks, so we've had a w C we had Dave preach and then we had Ron preach and today we're having Jeremy preach. And so we've got the whole lineup going here and then I'll be back on for Christmas Eve. I'm thinking about being here three, four, and five o'clock that's who wants to join me all three services? No, all three everybody's hands. As soon as I said three services, the hands went down. Okay, Ken, he's going to be here. 2 (23m 9s): So we do have three Christmas Eve services, and we're going to make the patio a kind of a cool, kind of a venue where with fire pits and all kinds of fun stuff. So that's going to be really, really fun. If you are new to the church, we encourage you to stop by the info center. You've got a free gift there and, and then fill out a communication card as well. You can do that on the Harvest Church app. I think you can even fill out the communication card on our website, but also we've got communication cards that you can fill out and you get those at the info center. We just like to hello to you and welcome you here. 2 (23m 50s): Hey, we have been collecting food like crazy. So Thanksgiving, we gave away all kinds of food baskets for those in need. And at Christmas for this holiday, we gate we collected and provided 25 baskets, Christmas dinners to 25 families in need. And then because of your generosity, we've been able to partner with grace. Church grace, grace Bible, and, and we served another 130 families, their foster families with, with a Christmas dinner. And so together combined, we served a 155 dinners this year. That's I think that's our biggest year ever. So thank you so much. Yeah. Thank you for your generosity. 2 (24m 31s): None of that happens unless you guys bring sides and hams and turkeys and all of that stuff. So thank you so much for your generosity into those who spearheaded that, where you're so, so grateful here, the Church office will be closed as it is every year between Christmas Eve. And it will be here Christmas Eve for the services at three, four. What time of the services? Again? Three, four or five. Thanks. So we're going to be, we'll be here, but then beginning the 25th until January 3rd, the office will be closed. We just like to give our staff extra time with their family. And, and Hey, I haven't talked about the second mortgage for probably almost a year, a year ago. I talked about the second mortgage because we've got this Need, we're trying to raise over the period of three years. 2 (25m 16s): We're trying to raise $360,000. So people have been giving faithfully every month, every week. People give faithfully. We are, we are at around $86,000 that has come in. So if you do the math, we've got $360,000 over three-year period. That's a $120,000 a year that we're trying to raise over and above our regular ties and offerings and that sort of thing. So you guys have been amazing and we had brought in 86,000. So that means if we're going to write a check at the end of the year for a $120,000, we need 34,000 more to come in. So that's the challenge, but we've already raised 86,000. So if you are here and you want to make a year-end gift to the second mortgage, you can just Mark right on your check, second mortgage, and we'll make sure that goes to that. 2 (26m 5s): And, and we'll just trust the Lord, do what we always do and just trust the Lord's provision for all of this stuff that, that we're trying to do and trying to get accomplished. So with that, Jeremy, come on up, Jeremy's preaching today. He'll be in first Thessalonians chapter four, and he'd be taking us through the first part of chapter five. And so we were kind of arm wrestling about who was going to preach this weekend and he, let me, have you, have you seen the guns on this guy? Yeah, so he actually did when our family was exposed to COVID and we weren't sure if we were going to get the test results back in time for me to prep and be ready and, you know, we could have both prepped to be ready, but then that's not necessary. 2 (26m 54s): So we said we just tagged Jeremy. So again, it was Ron or Dave and Ron now Jeremy, and then I'll be back up. And so I want to pray for you and just pray for us as a church. And so why don't we all stand up everywhere, all over the campus, outside, inside, let's stand up and extend our hand to Jeremy Lord. Thank you for Jeremy. Thank you for pastor Jeremy and his desire to teach and the gifts that you have given him. Lord, we're so grateful. Thank you that he's an amazing a pastor at our church. We love him. We just pray that as he brings forth the word, God, that we would hear what we need to hear, that we'd be challenged, encouraged, edified, and built up in our most Holy faith. So thank you for this time. Thank you for your living word. 2 (27m 34s): Use it to speak to us. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. 3 (27m 39s): Thank you. Stoke to have my wife, my daughter Posey here in the service, and then my youth group is up here and kind of spread out. 4 (27m 49s): So 3 (27m 51s): Love you guys. You guys are awesome. I'm a fan. Yes. I have a fan club there. It's awesome. You guys are awesome. Hey, let's open up our Bibles to first Thessalonians chapter four. I'm going to be picking up where Ron left off. He did such a, an amazing job last week. So many just points to take home and to work on. And you know, just a summarize. He talked about this, Holy living that God's calling us to do, and the purity that God's calling us to have as we, as we prepare for what, what God has for us, and then not only purity, but then what does it look like for Holy loving and then Holy leading. 3 (28m 32s): And it was a, it was a, it was a great and timely message. And you know, I like second service. I kind of get to forget about the foibles or first service and learn some things. And so actually I want to, I wanna, I want to grab you with a wedding. Everybody loves a wedding just, just last week. We got to go down to Santa Barbara and see two of my former fifth and sixth grade students get married and they love the Lord. They have committed to each other. They've committed to God. They've, they've walked in purity. And, and it was amazing thing to see these two former fifth and sixth graders walk down the aisle and say, I do. 3 (29m 13s): It was, it was amazing. And the funny part is I can remember those two specifically on one of the days that I was like planting seeds, like, Hey, someday, some of you guys might get married and if you get married, this is what you look for. And I would play at Lucy's into look at this wedding and see it. And they really, they walked in that they walked in, in God's purity and his loving is leading. So I was really stoked. So I want to pull you into a wedding because I think this will help us understand the rest of the chapter and maybe understand some context. One of the things as we studied the Bible is the Bible was written in a different To a different people, grew up in a different culture. And so as we learn more about the culture that was during the times of Jesus, I think we can understand more about the Bible. 3 (30m 2s): And so let me take you through a wedding and not just a Jewish wedding, but a specifically a Galilean wedding. Okay. And there were some things that set a galleon wedding apart. And just in saying this it's important to note that Jesus was from Nazareth of Galilee. The disciples were all we're from Galilee and even Jesus. His first miracle was in kina of galley. So that's, that's important and understanding the context Jesus was doing. So let me jump in. So the bride and groom, they would gather at the city gate to come together for a covenant in a way, a contract. And they would gather their families. And this wedding covenant would have been red agreed upon by both parties, the bride and the groom. 3 (30m 48s): And then the, the, the, the father and the, and the groom would, would take a dowry. And that would be paid towards his, his bride. And it wasn't a purchase. It was closer to an insurance policy. If something were to happen to him in the time of their patrol, he pays this price. Then the young man after that's all read it, if that's all done, they'll give me a little, pour a cup of wine and he'll hold it out. And this is one of the things that separated a Jewish wedding is as the groom extended that cup of wine out to his possible bride. She and only at a Galilean wedding, the opportunity to either accept or deny it, Jewish weddings, often the parents sets each other out, like that's kind of a done deal, but here in a Galilean wedding, we're learning from, and this is all taken from archeological digs and we're learning all this stuff. 3 (31m 44s): And so the young, the groom would reach out his cup and he would, he would offer it to her and she had the opportunity to then drink it. And if she chose to drink it, that was her signal that she was entering into this patrol level. And she would then be called the one that was bought with a price. The one that was bought with a price, I'm giving you a little things. I'm hoping that you're feeling in your mind, how this fits in with the Church. Okay. So she was then the one bot with a price and the S the, the groom would then take that cup. And he would say this, he would say, I will not drink this cup until the time when we are together again, does that sound familiar? 3 (32m 27s): What Jesus did. And we took the communion cup with his disciples because We, I miss that. But in it, as Jesus is at that, that round the table with his disciples, the disciples are realizing, well, this is, this is like a proposal. This is like a though this is, they were realizing that this is what Jesus was doing. He was offering that I will not drink this cup until we are get together again. And there was another huge part of a Galilean wedding that sets it apart. 5 (32m 51s): You know, we, we, we, we get a, a, a N 3 (32m 54s): A letter in the mail that says, save the date for this day. This is when this couple is going to get married. A gal Leanne was what was different than a wedding was different because there was no date set. It was solely up to the father of the groom of when the time was right for his son to go get his bride. So no date was set. And sometimes that was a year. Sometimes it was two years. There was a period. Okay. So there's no date set. So from that point on, after the groom has taken the cutback, they would separate. And the groom would then as during that period of separation, the groom would begin to prepare a place for his bride in his father's house, in the insula. 3 (33m 35s): And it was a large courtyard surrounded by a lot of small houses, mult Wellings. And so the sun would go back like, yes, my patrol, we're going to get married and he'd go back. And he began building on to his father's house, preparing that place, and the bride would then go herself and begin to prepare herself. She began to, to assemble the fabrics needed for the wedding dress. She began to make preparations and pick her, her a bridesmaids, all those things. They're all she's preparing herself. And the groom is preparing a place in his father's house and the groom in a galleon where he would often send gifts periodically to remind his bride of his love. 3 (34m 15s): And the interesting, Hey, don't forget about me here. Here's a little love gift. Here's a little gift. Here's a gift to remember that. I love you. We think of the gifts of the Holy spirit. God, I love you 5 (34m 30s): Exactly. 3 (34m 30s): When would it be building in the community that as, as they saw the walls go up and the roof and begin to fill it with furniture, there was an excitement in the community. And those who had the wedding invitations, they'd be like, Oh, I'm invited to this, this feast. This is, this was the party of the year. This is what you wanted to be part of it as a Jewish wedding. And as it, excitement is building, the groom is getting ready, but the bride is also getting ready as well. In fact, she has done her own preparations. She picked out her bridesmaids. She's getting them prepared as the day draws closer the day that they don't know, but they just have to be in preparation. The father is still holding on the bride is with her bridesmaids. 3 (35m 11s): And there every night they go to sleep wearing their gowns for the wedding. They have to be ready at any time that they have to be ready. And the groom is with his groomsmen and they are ready for the father to tap the son and say, go for it, go get your bride. And it was the father's job. Only the father knew the time that was set for the groom to go get his. And the father often would say like a thief in the night son, go get your bride. Can you imagine the excitement I've been waiting for this for a year, two years? Like this is time to go. Any, any, he wakes up all his grooves and they would have woken up. 3 (35m 54s): They jumped out. There's probably some yelling, excitement, Oh, you got this guy. That's going to go. You ready? And the procession would begin. And it would begin with the sound of a trumpet. A shofar would be blown in the streets. And if you heard that show for you and say, okay, who's getting married and how do we join? Or we have our wedding invitations, we're ready to go. And so this precession would grow as they got closer and closer to the brides house, reach the house, the bride, having heard the show far, haven't heard the procession. She would come out of her house to be gathered with the wedding party. At that point that the groomsmen would lift her up on a litter or a, or a chair. They would gather her up, they'd throw on there. And then her feet would not touch the ground as they went. 3 (36m 36s): To the wedding festival, the wedding celebration. It was said that she flies to the wedding chamber. And as they came to the wedding chamber, the whole, the whole party, the whole celebration, they would enter into that courtyard. And then the Gates would be sealed. And that, what that did is it didn't allow it. No one else to join the wedding party. Maybe they're late. Maybe they slept through it. They weren't allowed, they didn't have their invitation. They weren't ready. And so they would be kept out. But those who are inside, they were there for the party for the duration. And sometimes these wedding parties last from three to seven days is you imagine that Jesus knew about that. 3 (37m 20s): That was where Jesus did his first miracle in Kayna and Qaeda is where he was in one of those courtyards with his mom and his family and Jesus and Mary comes to Jesus like, Hey, I ran out of wine. What are we going to do? And that's a problem, because like I said, no one could leave and no one could come in. The Gates was shut. There was a party and said, no one was allowed to come. So it was a scandal that they ran out of wine. So when Jesus turns the water into wine, all the problems are fixed because they had wine. They couldn't leave her go. And after that seven days, the bride and groom, they come out, they celebrate there's feasting. How cool is that? 3 (38m 1s): So those things away, as we, as we begin to enter into first Thessalonians four, because I believe this was very much on the mind of policies right in it. Obviously it was on Jesus and the disciples as they have their conversations. But first Thessalonians asked the questions, I believe. Why do we need to Live Holy Life Why Ron messaged Lee yesterday was how, but now we're living Why and I, I, my wife will attest you. I am not good at grammar. I'm horrible speller. I'm more of a math and science guy. That's what I like. But when it comes to grammar and the Bible, all of a sudden, I like my, I kind of perk up like, okay, this is there's reasons that these are in there. So I've been kind of like obsessing over the subject pronouns here in these verses. 3 (38m 45s): And those are I We you and they. And so Paul writes this letter and he says, this, he's going to answer the why, why do we need to live a Holy life? He says, I do not want you speaking of the church to be ignorant brethren concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. He's a reminded them. I don't want you to be ignorant. I want you to know this. I don't want you to be lacking. This is his reason for writing. Paul had only spent three Sabbath in a vessel Annika. So maybe a most four weeks there as the Church, then he had to, because of persecution, tribulation, he had to leave. 3 (39m 27s): He was a, he, he had a runaway escape. And so this question is on their mind. Well, what, what has happened to those who have died? What has happened to those who died? And this is what Jesus is going to, and this is what Paul is going to continue saying, verse 14. He says, for, if we believe that Jesus died and Rose again, even so God will bring him those who sleep in Jesus. Isn't this incredible. This is the gospel message summary summarized right here in this first for if we believe that Jesus died and Rose again, and to die and rise again, it means that Jesus had to come as a baby. He had to be born into this world. He had to have the ability to die. 3 (40m 9s): And that is what we celebrate in Christmas. The Virgin birth that the Messiah came to earth as a baby boy place in a feeding trough. And now Paul is reminding them that Jesus died. He Rose again. So those who sleep in Jesus will as well posting. Remember, Jesus's resurrection. The supernatural thing on misperception for this, we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede. Those who are asleep, this I believe was the concern of what has happened to those believers. Who've died before Jesus returns. 3 (40m 51s): Fess loan is actually the first L a pistol written. You know, that it was interesting to find that out, Luke, won't write his gospel. The first gospel isn't written until 63 80. This is written in approximately 50, 50, one 80, only 20 or 18, 19, 20 years after Jesus's resurrection. So, so as time has gone on, and remember the disciples were like waiting there as Jesus Rose up into the clouds, they're waiting and like, okay, what's, you know, what's going to happen. We Jesus said, he's going to come back or when's that going to happen? And the angel has a tap him on the shoulder and be like, no, okay, go do your thing. This is where you have to go, wait, he'll come back to the appropriate time when he said, 5 (41m 32s): And so this is 20 years later in believers 3 (41m 34s): Have begun passing away. And I remember the night my dad took his last breath on this world. My siblings and I all were all there. My mom was there and we watched him take his last breath. And he went to be absent from the body, but he went to be present with the Lord 5 (41m 53s): 3 (41m 57s): And I remember walking outside, we lived way out in the country and I just right or wrong. I went up and just yelled at Why Lord Why. And these Christians are asking Why this, these persecutions, these flesh, all these things are coming against as well. When is Jesus going to come? People are passing away. Lord. Well, don't you know about this. And so Paul says it in a very strong language, verse 15, the word of the Lord, I say to this, to you by the word of the Lord. And he says this, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede. Those who are asleep 5 (42m 32s): 3 (42m 35s): This is what happened in verse 16 for the Lord himself will descend from heaven, with a shout, with a voice of an Archangel and with a trumpet of God, does it sound kind of like that procession from the groom's house, the bride's house, or it's like this shot, like the groomsmen are like, let's do this. The trumpet of God blows. And the procession begins. It says, and that dad in Christ will rise up first. This is, this is preposterous in some ways to believe that we believe in the supernatural God that raises people from the dead. But we, we look towards Jesus who died first and Rose. 3 (43m 16s): First, Those three things, a shout of voice and Archangel. It's interesting. The third, the trumpet of God, I've become more and more in love with Jewish history and finding out the culture and the context with, with Bibles written. And one of the things I've, I've kind of discovered this week, and as I've been studying along as the Jew, the seven Jewish feasts, okay. There's seven of them. I want to explain a real quick there's four spring feast and then three in the fall. 5 (43m 45s): 3 (43m 48s): And take this as you may, but Jesus was crucified at Passover at the first feast. He was buried on the feast of the unleavened bread. 5 (43m 59s): Third, 3 (43m 60s): He Rose from the dead on the feast of first fruits. And then the spirit, the Holy spirit was poured out on the first believers at Pentecost. And then there's this period in, in the, in the, in the celebrations of these, these feasts, there's a period of the summer. Harvest, there's a, there's a gap. It would seem. And the first thing that happens at the fall entering into the fall feasts is the feats of trumpets. It's where people were gathering out in the field, they're doing their there's beginning to glean and work out in the field. And as soon as the priest on that temple wall below blew his show far, 6 (44m 39s): His horn, his trumpet, 3 (44m 41s): No matter what you were doing, where you were, you stopped and you'd come to the temple. You'd, you'd be gathered by that trumpet. And after the feast of trumpets, the second feast in the fall would be the D of a tournament or young Cooper. And I believe this first shadows, the second coming of Christ. Then lastly, we have the feast of Tabernacles. And this believes for shadows, the millennial reign of Jesus. It was a, it was, it was a partial fulfillment in scripture when Jesus came for those 33 years. But the ultimate will be when he's here during the millennial reign and forevermore, and he Tabernacles with us, he dwells with us. 3 (45m 24s): So the dead in Christ will rise first and he's comforted them with these words, the dead and Christ over it. God has not forgotten those. Who've passed away. The den Christ Rose first, then verse 17. It says we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord. Is it interesting that Paul included himself in that Paul believed in this imminent return of Jesus Christ for the believers, for the Church. He believed in that. And he put himself in that, like, I'm ready for that at anytime. We shall always be with the Lord. And those who have died will rise up and they'll meet the Jesus in the clouds to meet them in the Lord in the air. 3 (46m 8s): We have to contrast that with a second coming of Christ, 6 (46m 13s): Zachariah 14 is a lot 3 (46m 18s): Amazing passage of I've referenced this and other, other sermons, but Zachariah 14 four says this in a way that day, his feet will stand in the Mount of olives. This is his second coming. And that day his feet will touch or stand on the Mount of olives, which faces Jerusalem on the East. And the Mount of olives shall be split into from East to West, making a very large Valley, half the mountain shall move toward the North and a half towards Geography. I love maps. I got to share this with a youth group on a Wednesday night, G as Jesus comes back to the earthly return, as he touches down on the earth, he's going to land on the Mount of olives. 3 (47m 5s): And this is a belief different from them, the rapture, the church, this is a different event. And so as he touches down, as his feet, stand on the Mount of olives, there's going to be this huge earthquake and there will be a split. And if you, if you know the geography and I should've put a map up thinking, now we have the temple, and then you have the Mount of olives here on the East. And the Mount of olives have three peaks. And what, and what they discovered in 1964 was a fault line from the West to the East that runs right through the middle of Mount of olives so much so that they were going to build the hotel of seven arches. And they had decided they had to move at 30 meters, I think, to the North so that they wouldn't put that hotel on the fault line so that when Jesus comes, he doesn't, Need, he doesn't meet a fault line to be there, to create an earthquake, create a huge Valley. 3 (47m 54s): We, we, we believe that Jesus has a power, but isn't it cool that there is a fault line, right? Where Zachariah prophesied 2,500 years ago. Unbelievable. 5 (48m 4s): . 3 (48m 8s): And so when Paul uses this language, he says they shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air he's using the Latin word is wrapped Turo, where we get our word rapture, the doctrine of the rapture and the Greek word that we find here is her Pozzo. I kind of like rapture better. It sounds, I don't know, like wrap him up to be caught. To plucked 5 (48m 33s): . 3 (48m 38s): And this is a comfort to those who were there, knowing that God knows exactly what's going to happen, and when it's going to happen. And we're waiting for that shout that trumpet at any moment that trumpet could blow the house has prepared. Jesus has been prepared a place for us in heaven. For those 2000 years, he'd been sending us gifts, reminding us of his love. So we are to comfort one another one another with these words and Why comfort because their current afflictions, their current tribulations, their current persecutions, for those who have died or been martyred during that time, that during that 20 year time, there, there was, there was a lot of hurt. 3 (49m 26s): There was pain. What happened to these people? And God is saying, I got it. We look around the world. We're like what's happening. And I think the U S has been so insulated from a lot of the persecution and trials and afflictions that the rest of the world has, has, has felt. And I think as time goes on and the Lord tarries, we will fill more of that heat. I don't think things are getting better. I think things in this world, the world system are only getting crazier and Why comfort because purity, because of Holy living, Paul referenced that in, in, earlier in the chapter, like, you know, and just as a kid, you don't want to be with your hand in the cookie jar. 3 (50m 10s): When your parents walk in the house, like, you know, they, they give you the instruction. Don't, don't eat the cookies. It was a save for later. And you're there. Your hand is in the cookie jar. Oh, there was a cause for purity, because we want to live a Holy and pure life. We want to be that bride. That's ready for her groom to come. And it's, it's, it's an and that way. And Paul puts on a, a break here, but he's still not done with his subjects to see the chapters and verses are men's invention. So let's carry on in first Thessalonians five, he says, but now concerning the times and the seasons brethren, you have no need that I should write for you. It's interesting. They knew the times and the seasons to look for that was not what they were lacking. 3 (50m 50s): They were lacking the reason why, but the times and the seasons they knew, and they knew this because Paul had already given him this doctrine. He says for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night, the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the knife. Paul is talking about this, a thief in the night, and it's much like a Jewish wedding, right? It happens in the middle of night. You never know when to expect and boom, there it is. Matthew 24 talks about this thief in the night as he's given us all of that discourse. 3 (51m 30s): Second, second, Peter, Peter writes in chapter three, verse 10, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise. The elements will melt with fervent heat, both the earth and the works will all be burned up. And that is that galleon who had this, this it's CA comes upon. You suddenly much suddenly like, like labor pains in verse three. And when they said peace and safety, then sudden destruction. Some destruction comes upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape. Let's talk about this building. You should be knowing you should being aware of what's going on. And you know, as, as I've gotten to watch my wife carry three of my daughters, lovely daughters, you get, you know, you're getting, the time is coming. 3 (52m 16s): They know it's approaching. You don't know when. And I think all three of our daughters were late, like by almost a week and is, and is building expectations, building, building, building, because you can just realize that the belly's getting bigger and bigger and the baby ain't going to fit in there and a much longer 6 (52m 31s): 3 (52m 35s): And suddenly comes upon them. Labor pains as a pregnant woman, they shell out escape. It's interesting that when it says, when they say peace and safety, just on a whim, I went to the Google trends and I searched the word safe. Google trends shows you what words people are searching over time. And it's kind of starts. The catalog starts in 2004. And I found it interesting that people have that the word safe has increased in the search term by over 300% from March or started from 2004 to March of 2020, this year three, a hundred percent people want to know what's safe. 3 (53m 20s): What is safe. And then these, this idea of peace and safety, they will say peace. And then sudden destruction will come, reminds me of, of Noah's flood. And then Jesus said they were marrying and giving in marriage until right up until the time that the rain started and the flood came, they'd been warned. No had been warned that over and over again. There's an awareness of the approaching and then boom, it's, it's an upon it's upon you. And Paul's remind me, Hey, you don't have to be in darkness, verse four, but you brethren are not in darkness. So that this day shall overtake you like a thief us as believers. Well, this, this doesn't surprise us. This doesn't escape us. This does not come on a, like a thief. 3 (54m 0s): We are not of those darkness. We are in the light. 6 (54m 5s): And speaking of that day, there is a coming judgment for the sin. And God is, is, is 3 (54m 16s): I believe his anger in his wrath has grown and grown until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled until that last person accepts Christ believes in him. And then boom, that old Mark 6 (54m 27s): This day. But 3 (54m 29s): This day won't overtake us as a thief. It won't overtake us as a thief revelation. Six talks about that. It says for the great is the day of his wrath. It has come and who is able to stand when we are of the light, when we were following Jesus, Jesus says, I am the light of the world. And he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Jesus said, sorry, Paul, in verse five, you are sons of a light and sons of the day nor we are. And we are not of night nor of the darkness reminded of Noah. As he was building that arc, It took him a a hundred, I believe a 120 years To as he continued to build that Ark in the face of people, mocking him in the face of people. 3 (55m 16s): What are you building an arc? It never rained. And so this thought that there's going to be rain and a worldwide flood was just 6 (55m 22s): Crazy. The people 3 (55m 24s): Thought he was crazy and they continued on. Life just, just like they did until the day it started raining. And it, by then, it was too late. The door had been sealed, 6 (55m 35s): But there's 3 (55m 35s): An interesting man. The Bible talks Genesis talks about Hebrews talks about later, his name was Enoch. Enoch walked with God, and then he was not for God, took him. 6 (55m 48s): And I looked at this 3 (55m 48s): Timeline. I put the timeline according to Genesis together. And if my calculus calculations are true, as well as others that day, or that year, that Enoch was taken was the year of the flood. He did not go through that flood. You knock was taken in the year of the flood and he walked with God and then he was not free. He was taking. 6 (56m 13s): So there's a call to us. Verse six, 3 (56m 15s): The call to not sleep. Therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober. And are we walking in the spirit of hope and awareness of what's going on around us or are we sticking our heads in the sand and trying to Berry died a hideaway, or we are we being aware of what's going on to watch and be sober. Our hope is not found in this world, society, this world system, the ones, the system that's working its way towards some kind of one world order, a sense of globalism power monopoly, all being pulled into into one system. And it's scary to read out and to find out the plans, the world, economic forum, as they talk about the great reset they've been talking more and more about this year. 6 (57m 3s): What I hope isn't found in this world, let us be watchful and sober. 3 (57m 10s): And we have times and seasons. We're not to know the times of seasons, but we can look around and see what's going on. The eminent return of Christ. You see, I believe in Daniel nine, he he's talking to the Jews and Daniel is an amazing book. And so amazing that even though a lot of liberal Christians will not believe that Daniel wrote the full book of Daniel. And that fascinates me because how do you argue with Jesus? When Jesus said, when Daniel, the prophet wrote in Matthew 24, Jesus believed Daniel wrote the book of Daniel and the prophecies are so incredibly accurate. That there's no way that they could be a man's thoughts. 3 (57m 56s): And Daniel nine verse 25 says this, and this is one of the keystones. I believe to the prophetic timeline. It says know therefore, and understand that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem and tell Messiah the Prince there shall be seven weeks and 62 weeks in the street shall be built again in the wall. Even in troublesome times, Daniel has given a 70 sevens prophecy that he received from God. He, he talks about these different periods and there's two periods. One's broken up by the first six to nine weeks. And then there's a gap. And then there's the last seventh week that we find in revelation the year of the great tribulation. But Daniel was saying that from the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah Prince there shall be 69 weeks, 69 weeks come out, comes out to be 483 years. 3 (58m 49s): This man named sir Anthony Roberts wrote the book coming Prince. And in it, he does the math, the calculations to take from the Babylonian calendar 360 days a year to the Gregorian calendar of 365 and a quarter and all that stuff. And he does all the math and calculate leap years, all that stuff. And he decides it's one thousand seven hundred and thirty one thousand one hundred thousand one hundred and seventy three thousand eight hundred eighty days. And we know from history that that command to restore and build Jerusalem that is marked in Nehemiah, the profit that brings us to April six 30, two 80. And in his book, he makes the case. That was the day that Jesus marked marched into as during the trail for entry Palm Sunday, he, Jesus says this in Luke chapter 19, as he drew near, he saw the city and he wept over it. 3 (59m 42s): Why did Jesus weep over it this specific day? And he says, if you had help, if you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for peace, but now they're hidden from your eyes. That was the day that the Messiah was to be revealed to the world. And no one was there to meet him at the temple. There was the triumphal entry and thus, we began the times of the Gentiles. And so we need to be watchful. And so we're, we're living in what I believe the last days. And if Paul thought that 2000 years ago, even, even so more of us, he says, for those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night, they do these things under the cover of darkness. 3 (1h 0m 27s): And you think about the wedding guests waiting for that, 6 (1h 0m 32s): That wedding, they were ready. 3 (1h 0m 35s): You ready? They had to be sober. They had to be waiting for the hear that Trump had been called. They couldn't be drunk. They might sleep through it. And they missed the whole wedding party. They had to be ready for that day. 6 (1h 0m 50s): Let us who are of the day, be sober, 3 (1h 0m 53s): Putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. And this is what I rest on in verse nine 6 (1h 1m 4s): For God, did not appoint us to wrath 3 (1h 1m 7s): Pertain salvation through our Lord. Jesus Christ are destined. Not for that wrath, that wrath, that God pours out on an unbelieving Christ rejecting world. We are not appointed for that, but we are appointed to obtain salvation through Jesus. 6 (1h 1m 26s): Jesus 3 (1h 1m 26s): Talks about tribulations. We will have tribulations, but we will not have to endure the great tribulation revelation. Six 17 says for the great day of wrath has come and who is able to stand, who is able to stand in that day. 6 (1h 1m 42s): And it was Jesus 3 (1h 1m 43s): Who spoke into existence. This mystery of the church, the church is like this mystery in the Bible. It's only unfolded through the epistles and the gospels and this mystery, but it was Jesus who spoke that Church into existence in Matthew 16 And upon Peter's confession of Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, Jesus said, the Gates of hell shall not prevail. And he uses the word Church. I will build my church on that. And the Gates of hell shall not prevail, but then you're going to come to a revelation fast forward to revelation. It says it was granted to him, the antichrist to make war with the saints and to overcome and authority was given him, him over every tribe, tongue and tongue a nation. 3 (1h 2m 25s): How is they? Jesus said this, this church that I'm a building upon the confession of me as Lord and savior. The Gates of hell will not prevail. And then in revelations 13, it says it was a grant that makes war saints, make war with the saints and to overcome them. How can that be? That's because the church isn't here, the church isn't here. The last mentioned the church in the book of revelation. As far as a letter to them, he said in verse revelation, three 22, he has an ear. Let him hear what the spirit says to the churches in revelation forces. And after these things, we are not appointed to wrath where we face tribulations. 3 (1h 3m 9s): Yes. Jesus said we'll face tribulations. We'll fix face afflictions prosecutions. Yes, possibly even more suffering than, than we've known here in the States. And the others are going through. And that will, those things will continue to sanctify us. But God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord, Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or we sleep, we shall live together with him, therefore, comfort one another and Edify one another, just as you're also doing only the father knows that time. And that hour of when he gets to tell his son Jesus, to come for us, to come for his bride an amazing day, that's going to be, let me pray. 3 (1h 3m 55s): And then we'll bring up the worship band. Lord, may we be filled with the hope and excitement of your eminent return as our savior? Is there a groom is a kinsmen Redeemer. We, as a church being bought with a price Lord, you've set us apart. I look forward to that coming day. Lord, when you'll blow your trumpet and you'll gather us as, as your bride, continue to refine us, continue to purify us, continue to make us Holy Jesus name. We pray. 3 (1h 4m 36s): Amen. Thanks. Church 1 (1h 4m 41s): Let's stand as we were Jesus' name of Jesus. 1 (1h 5m 30s): each moment. 1 (1h 14m 58s): Thank you for this time. 0 (1h 14m 60s): Or it's all that you want to do in our hearts this day. 1 (1h 15m 5s): Give us eyes to see your name. Amen. Amen. 0 (1h 15m 11s): I have a wonderful Christmas. We hope to see you on Christmas Eve, bring your friends. It'll be a lovely time together. So have an amazing week and just know that Jesus is with you. And if there's anyone here this morning that you would dislike a little prayer before you leave today, we always have folks available that would love to come alongside and just slip up any concerns on your hearts. Have a wonderful day, and we'll see you.